Noam Chomsky to speak at ESU event

East Stroudsburg University students will have the chance to meet "the father of modern linguistics" when he comes to the university to talk about the importance of public education Wednesday.

CHRISTINA TATU

East Stroudsburg University students will have the chance to meet "the father of modern linguistics" when he comes to the university to talk about the importance of public education Wednesday.

"In terms of his stature in the intellectual world, Noam Chomsky is similar to what the Beatles are to pop culture," said ESU philosophy professor Peter Prium, who helped organize the event.

Chomsky, who recently turned 84, is an American linguist, philosopher, political critic and activist.

"There was actually an index made in the early '90s, and it reported that Noam Chomsky was the most often cited source of any scholar in the English-speaking world," Prium said.

Chomsky's visit is partly due to chance and a little bit of luck.

The wheels were set in motion during the third week of the fall semester when Prium's class was reading some of Chomsky's work on language.

"One of Chomsky's big propositions he's argued for is that we are actually born with not just the capacity to learn language, but with the knowledge already of the general structure language will have," Prium said.

After the lecture, ESU senior John Christman mentioned that Chomsky would be speaking at Lehigh University in February.

Prium thought maybe he could take his class to Lehigh.

But Christman suggested inviting Chomsky to ESU, because he heard the famous linguist likes to see as many venues as possible when he's in a new area.

"I told him that would be nice, but a speaker like Noam Chomsky often charges universities a speaking fee on the order of $20,000 to $30,000," Prium said.

Through a connection Christman had at Lehigh University, he knew Chomsky was charging far less than that.

Prium declined to comment on the exact amount, but said Chomsky is donating the money he's been paid back to ESU.

"His only requirement was that the money be put in a fund that supports local activism, so we decided to make a fund to bring more outside speakers to ESU," Prium said.

"As a social activist, he got national attention as an outspoken critic of the government's handling of the Vietnam War," Prium said.

Chomsky didn't just talk about the war, "It was a bigger issue, how powerful institutions, be it governments or corporations, very often find that they become not so friendly to the principles of democracy," Prium said.

"He is a great critic of how concentrated power can sometimes make people less knowledgeable and aware of how to exercise their democratic responsibilities."

Chomsky will be speaking on "Prospects for Peace in the Middle East," at Lehigh University at 7 p.m. today in the Packard Auditorium, 19 Memorial Drive West, Bethlehem. The event is free. Call 610-758-3345 for information.